te vapor. They climbed up with incredible speed.
One went by Joe at a distance of little more than a mile, and its fumes
eddied out to half that before they thinned to nothingness. They went on
and on and on....

They burned out somewhere. It would be a long time before they fell back
to Earth. Hours, probably. Then they would be meteors. They'd vaporize
before they touched solidity. They wouldn't even explode.

But Joe and the Chief rode back to the Platform. It was surprising how
hard it was to match speed with it again, to make a good entrance into
the giant lock. They barely made it before the Platform made its plunge
into that horrible blackness which was the Earth's shadow. And Joe was
very glad they did make it before then. He wouldn't have liked to be
merely astride a skinny framework in that ghastly darkness, with the
monstrous blackness of the Abyss seeming to be trying to devour him.

Haney met them in the airlock. He grinned.

"Nice job, Joe! Nice job, Chief!" he said warmly. "Uh--the Lieutenant
Commander wants you to report to him, Joe. Right away."

Joe cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What for?"

Haney spread out his hands. The Chief grunted. "That guy bothers me.
I'll bet, Joe, he's going to explain you shouldn't've gone out when he
didn't want you to. Me, I'm keeping away from him!"

The Chief shed his space suit and swaggered away, as well as anyone
could swagger while walking on what happened to be the ceiling, from
Joe's point of view. Joe put his space gear in its proper place. He went
to the small cubbyhole that Brown had appropriated for the office of the
Platform Commander. Joe went in, naturally without saluting.

Brown sat in a fastened-down chair with thigh grips holding him in
place. He was writing. On Joe's entry, he carefully put the pen down on
a magnetized plate that would hold it until he wanted it again.
Otherwise it could have floated anywhere about the room.

"Mr. Kenmore," said Brown awkwardly, "you did a very nice piece of work.
It's too bad you aren't in the Navy."

Joe said: "It did work out pretty fortunately. It's lucky the Chief and
I were out practicing, but now we can take off when a rocket's reported,
any time."

Brown cleared his throat. "I can thank you personally," he said
unhappily, "and I do. But--really this situation is intolerable! How can
I report this affair? I can't suggest commendation, or a promotion,
or--anything! I don't even know how to refer to you!